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Alzheimer's disease is characterized by a decline in episodic memory and executive functioning, hampering learning ability. Insight into outcome‐based learning capacity may be relevant for optimizing the learning potential of these patients. To date, mixed results have been found in studies in which cognitively impaired participants have to learn based on positive and negative outcomes. In this study, we investigated the role of negative and positive feedback on memory performance and participants' ability to adjust their behaviour accordingly in a sample of 23 early‐stage AD patients and 23 matched healthy controls. We administered a novel computerized object‐location memory task, in which participants were instructed to learn and memorize the locations of different everyday objects following errorless learning (EL) and trial‐and‐error learning (TEL). A separate probabilistic TEL task was employed in which participants had to learn how to adjust their behaviour based on positive and negative feedback. EL had a beneficial general effect on memory performance for object locations. However, this effect was not larger in early‐stage AD patients compared to controls and error frequency during acquisition of object locations was unrelated to later recall performance. No group differences were found on the probabilistic learning task with respect to learning performance over time and based on positive and negative feedback. Although the error monitoring system seems intact in patients with early‐stage AD, errors during learning are likely acting as a source of interference causing difficulty in storage or retrieval of object locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While attention has been given to maladaptive personality traits in the sexual offending literature, little is known about how individuals who engage in child sexual abuse (CSOs) score on general personality traits, and how subgroups of CSOs vary in these traits. This study investigated general personality traits of (subgroups of) CSOs (n=57) as compared to those who engage in nonsexual offending (n=33) and nonoffending controls (n=36) by using the HEXACO model and the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory. Results revealed that the personality features of the CSOs are more similar to those of the nonoffending subgroup than to those of the nonsexual offending subgroup. Whereas the nonsexual offending subgroup showed personality traits that may affect their self-regulatory abilities, the CSOs showed traits that may impair their socio-affective functioning. However, the subgroup of CSOs that showed an enduring pattern of offending did display a constellation of personality traits typically found in antisocial individuals. These findings can inform treatment strategies for CSOs. Practice impact statement This article assists clinicians in designing tailored treatment strategies for individuals who perpetrate sexual offences against children (CSOs) by identifying how CSOs score on general personality traits. In contrast to nonsexual offenders who showed personality traits that may affect their self-regulatory abilities, CSOs showed personality traits that may affect their socio-affective functioning. This highlights the importance of addressing problems in the socio-affective domain such as intimacy deficits and emotional regulation difficulties in treatment programmes for CSOs. The present research also revealed personality differences within CSOs and showed how these differences should be taken into account when designing treatment strategies for CSOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies investigating the efficacy of errorless learning (EL), a rehabilitation method in which the occurrence of errors during learning are eliminated, have predominantly involved patients with memory impairment. However, the most recent perspective on the underlying mechanism of EL explicitly takes executive processes into account. The aim of this study was to investigate whether EL of object locations is beneficial for memory performance compared to trial-and-error learning (TEL) in patients with acquired brain injury (ABI) experiencing executive deficits (N = 15) and matched healthy controls (N = 15). Participants completed an EL and TEL condition of a computerized spatial learning task, in which the location of everyday objects had to be memorized. The number of errors made during learning was predetermined, varying from 0 (EL condition) to 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 errors (TEL condition). Results showed a beneficial effect of EL on memory performance in both ABI patients and controls (p <.001), but this advantage was not larger in ABI patients compared to controls and was not moderated by the amount of errors made during learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]